"Couple hours, if we're lucky. Couple days, if we aren't." They're not liable to last through all of Christmas, he's hoping, but he can't really know that for sure. He can't, because that was one event out of many, and it was the only one that lasted that long.

He has no idea if it's necessarily healthy to go ripping feathers up like he's about to go up in a molt, but it sure as hell can't feel pleasant. Sprouting a whole pair of new limbs is never an easy thing, to no one's surprise.

"I ever tell you about how Christmas here is kind of an ordeal?"